A Houstonian's stylish weekend getaway retreat is pure country comfort

Molly Glentze, Houston Chronicle

By Molly Glentzer

Updated 9:30 am, Sunday, October 20, 2013

A classic "dogtrot" divides the downstairs kitchen and living room at Chad Neal's weekend getaway near Shelby. Interior designer Susan White found ways to incorporate vintage fishing poles, handmade fishing nets and doilies created by Neal's late grandparents around the house.
Photo: Don Glentzer

A classic "dogtrot" divides the downstairs kitchen and living room...

Leslie Elkins designed the main house, scaling it modestly to sit lightly on the land. Neal has landscaped open areas out front with a cactus garden and oak trees.
Photo: Don Glentzer

Leslie Elkins designed the main house, scaling it modestly to sit...

From the left: At Chad Neal's home near Shelby, a hide rug, midcentury bench recovered in suede, midcentury lamps and a bull painting by Matt Messinger make the master bedroom interesting without being fussy. A popular spot in the house is the outdoor living space on the back porch, which overlooks two ponds surrounded by woods, with rolling prairie beyond.
Photo: Don Glentzer

From the left: At Chad Neal's home near Shelby, a hide rug,...

From the left: At Chad Neal's home near Shelby, a hide rug, midcentury bench recovered in suede, midcentury lamps and a bull painting by Matt Messinger make the master bedroom interesting without being fussy. A popular spot in the house is the outdoor living space on the back porch, which overlooks two ponds surrounded by woods, with rolling prairie beyond.
Photo: Don Glentzer

From the left: At Chad Neal's home near Shelby, a hide rug,...

The most popular room in the house is the outdoor living space on the back porch, which overlooks two ponds surrounded by woods, with rolling prairie beyond.
Country home of Chad Neal in Shelby, Texas photographed Aug. 31, 2013.
Photo: Don Glentzer

Pooches Humphrey and Monte, from left, with friend Ryan Kenneally. Chad Neal and his son Antonio Neal on the steps that lead up to the sleeping porch.
Chad Neal's weekend getaway near Shelby, photographed Aug. 31, 2013.
Photo: Don Glentzer

Pooches Humphrey and Monte, from left, with friend Ryan Kenneally....

A painting by Matt Messinger dominates a wall of the master bedroom in Chad Neal's weekend getaway home near Shelby.
Photo: Don Glentzer

A painting by Matt Messinger dominates a wall of the master bedroom...

A pirogue that belonged to Neal's grandfather hangs above a colorful daybed on the second-story sleeping porch, which also has inviting sitting areas. Chad Neal's weekend getaway near Shelby, photographed Aug. 31, 2013.

Photo: Don Glentzer

A pirogue that belonged to Neal's grandfather hangs above a...

The living room has a little bit of bling but maintains the home's simple tone, with a large industrial coffee table that serves as a game center. "We'll throw a puzzle on it and go at it all weekend," Neal says.
Chad Neal's weekend getaway near Shelby, photographed Aug. 31, 2013.
Photo: Don Glentzer

Chad Neal didn't want a cookie-cutter mansion for his weekend getaway. Nor did he want to build something fast.

Soon after buying a wooded 20-acre spread near Shelby in 2000, Neal moved an old bungalow from Giddings to the back of the property. It didn't have a proper kitchen but it had a good feel, with shiplap walls and a porch.

"A lot of people are coming out here and building brick houses like you'd see in West U," said Neal.

It doesn't take much to feel content in the country. Neal, who owns Saint Street Swim school in Houston, installed a couple of huge, shallow cattle tanks to create a pool, surrounding them with a large deck that became party central on the prairie. He kept that easy attitude when he built the main house in 2010 on a rise overlooking two large ponds. The Giddings bungalow is now the guest house.

"It's like a dressed-up shanty," he says of the new two-story dog-trot home designed by architect Leslie Elkins. The modestly scaled structure clad in durable Hardie siding sits light on the land, nestled into an opening that's approached by a long, heavily wooded drive. From the cactus garden at the front gate you can see right through the breezeway to the views out back.

Neal and his son Antonio, often accompanied by Antonio's best friend Ryan Kenneally, gravitate to the long back porch's covered living and dining spaces. A screened sleeping porch above invites serious napping.

The outdoor spaces occupy about the same amount of square footage as the home's interior. It has two bedrooms and two baths upstairs, with a living room and kitchen downstairs separated by the breezeway.

The décor is modern with an old soul. Interior designer Susan White helped Neal score the living room's industrial coffee table and some of the furniture at Warrenton. Neal had a few midcentury modern pieces he wasn't using in Houston, and White also pulled some treasures from his closets, including a large, Mexican-style tin mirror that adds a little bling to the living room.

White also found ways to incorporate vintage fishing poles, handmade fishing nets and doilies created by Neal's late grandparents, who were from southeast Louisiana. One of Neal's greatest treasures is his grandfather's old pirogue, which is now hung from the ceiling on the sleeping porch.

The living room windows are dressed simply with textured shades and upholstered pieces are slip-covered for easy care. (Big dogs Monte and Humphrey have the run of the place, too.)

"We wanted it so comfy you could put your feet up on anything. Nothing is fragile around here," Neal said.

He recently added a large painting of a bull by Houston artist Matt Messinger to his bedroom wall; and he's now restoring an old barn on the property to store bikes and tools. But he doesn't want to fill the place up with stuff.